persephone, raptor, and soniker
by nightcrawler4188
Summary: three new mutants and toad join the x men, but there's something odd about the girls..their eyes glow and weird images show up in their dreams... and what's that about an old legend concerning three mutants? read and find out!
1. chapters 1 and 2

August 7th, 2003 (my first fan-fiction story. Yay!)  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"My, my!" said a short, elderly looking teacher, whose hair had begun to show signs of her age with its silver streak down her auburn waves. She spoke to a younger student, a girl of fifteen with curly brown hair, green eyes and sort of heavy body weight. "Olivia Bloomwood, I have never in all my years of teaching advanced gardening seen someone with as much talent in the greenhouse as you have shown here the past year!" the teacher finished happily.  
Olivia's eyes shined with happiness and pride, but not too much pride, and answered, glowing, "Thank you very much, Mrs. Chamone." She gave Olivia a wide smile and continued surveying the row of plants cared for by the other students. The reason Mrs. Chamone had pointed out Olivia's project was simple: all of the students had started their various plants a week and a half ago as their final grade, and had gotten only to the budding of their flowers (if there were any) while Olivia's cucumber plant had passed that stage and had grown into a three foot long vegetable. All of the other students were an envious of her as her plant was green, which is really saying something, since her project was the shade of green that would make a deep forest green look like a neon yellow. She noticed their jealous glares, and turned quickly back to tending the vines of the plants, but smiling all the while inside.  
  
Later that day, the bell rang at 2:00, and Olivia proceeded to the weather-worn flag pole where she was going to meet her boyfriend, Mitch Malory. Mitch, she thought, I can't wait to tell you about my day.she had had a wonderful day, getting the best grades in all of her classes on their previous exams, but this was just an excuse to think about him. He was the first guy to ever take a real interest in her, and she loved him for it. Well, almost loved him for it,; she had promised herself that she wouldn't admit to love until she actually knew it was there, and although she really, really liked Mitch, she knew that love for him wasn't in her yet. The one thing that had shaken the foundations of her thoughts about her feelings for him had happened the other night when she was talking to him on the phone. They had been discussing the upcoming final exams starting on Monday, but Olivia had really been just listening to Mitch's voice. Half way through their conversation, Olivia could have sworn that she had heard another voice, not belonging to his mom or sister, but another woman, in the background, but she couldn't be sure. He said he had to go and. "study" for the exam, and hung up; he didn't even wait for her to say goodnight.  
As the myriads of students spilled from the double doors of the Bell Monte High, Olivia finally spied her boyfriend, but then she wished she hadn't. Instead of her heart leaping, as it normally did when she saw Mitch after school, it sank to deepest pit of her soul and a shattering silence engulfed her body: she couldn't hear the laughter of her classmates, happy at the weekends arrival ("Finally!), or their worries that they normally confided to each other ("What am I going to do about these exams!?"). The only sound was the slow thudding of her heart, which had found a new resting place in her throat, trying to climb out of her body. Mitch Malory, her boyfriend, with his close cut brown hair, slightly muscular build, tanned skin, and grey eyes, was not with his usual pack of goon friends waiting to great her; instead Leslie Myer, captain of the cheerleading squad, with her blond hair, cold dark eyes and low cut fashions to make sure all the guys would see all she had, was under his arm, gazing up at him smiling. Olivia couldn't hear what they were saying, but she was sure that they were talking about her, and how Mitch was going to break up with her as soon as he saw her again.  
This can't be happening.the words in her head came as a sonic boom breaking the silence that had previously existed. I-I-just don't believe this, she said to herself again. Yes you do, answered a voice in her head, you've always known it wouldn't last. First boyfriends rarely do, but you knew you didn't love him, so don't let him break you, that's just what he wants. And no tears!!! The voice finished and Olivia struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes like Niagara Falls. Instead she listened; she knew that the voice, wherever it came from, (it sounded so much like her mom, who had died in a car accident a year earlier) was right, and that she didn't love him. So, with her head held high, she turned on her heel and marched away, not letting the tears that wanted to break free from their prison behind her eyes escape her will power to hold them there.  
However, she should've known that it wouldn't be that easy. Mitch had turned his head and had seen Olivia turn and walk away and knew that she knew about him. He panicked for a moment, and then remembered what he was going to break with her anyway. He smirked to himself, gave a goodbye kiss to his new girlfriend, and proceeded to catch up with Olivia. It wasn't hard, and soon he was striding next to her, smiling, but she didn't turn to look at him. Her face was staring strait ahead and she didn't even acknowledge his existence.  
"Hey Olivia, wait a minute." He said to her, in a commanding way, but it was to no avail; she wasn't going to listen to that cheating, rat-gutted jerk anymore. So, instead-  
"Sorry, I don't throw my lot in with a cheating moron like you. Oh and by the way, I'm leaving you; it won't be the other way around." She then quickened her pace and sped off for home down the driveway of the school. Mitch just stood there in shock; she had never been so aggressive towards him, and it sort of scared him. But he didn't let it bother him, and he walked down the sidewalk to his car. As he got in to start it up, he looked up and noticed something he hadn't in the four years he had been in Bell Monte High School: a three foot tall bleeding heart plant was growing in front of a large maple tree in the grass. He gazed at it puzzled for a moment, then dismissed it as having been there all along, started his car, and drove home to talk with his new girlfriend on the phone.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
All through that afternoon and following day, Olivia had spent her time pouring over her notes preparing for her final exams which were coming up on Monday, but she couldn't concentrate; the thought of being so alone as she was before she met Mitch- No, said her mother's voice in her head, you can't do that. You make yourself alone if you do that. Don't let that weasel do that to you. He'll get what he deserves in the end. She smiled at this and continued reading and rereading her notes. "The square root of 144...oh I've already read these!" she said aloud at 7:30 on Saturday night. She put her head in her hands and sighed deeply. Then, the phone rang and she picked it up to the sound of her friend Julia's voice, "Hey Olive-Girl!" she said happily, "what's happening?" "I'm studying," Olivia answered, trying to hide the depression in her voice. "What's wrong? I know there's something.you can't hide it from me; you should know that by now! We didn't spend an entire year talking in geometry about nothing, you know!" Much as she hated to admit it, she had to tell someone, and Julia would listen and understand. "Well, there is something." she ran into the story of Mitch and Leslie, and when she finished, she did feel a little more relieved. There was a pause over the phone, and then- "Oh my God, that jerks." Julia said pityingly, "but you did break with him before he could with you, right?" "Yeah, I wasn't gonna let that moron get the best of me." Olivia laughed softly. "Hey, a couple of us are going out dancing at the Crow's Corner, you know, the under 21 club on Madison Avenue? We're coming to get you whether you say yes or no. Be ready in 10 minutes." And then there was a click as the connection closed. Olivia held the receiver to ear for a minute, and then put it down, shaking her head and smiling weakly. She got up from her chair, making her feel like she had been part of it since time began, stretching; she went to her closet and began to dress for the club.  
  
At around 8:00, Olivia, Julia, and a few of their friends got out of the car and went into the club. For the first half hour, Olivia forgot all about her problems and danced her pains away; that's right, sweetie, said her motherly voice, that jerk of a boyfriend you had doesn't mean a thing to you anymore. Good for you! But then, who should strut through the door with a trophy on his arm but Mitch Malory, with a flock of goons following in his wake, laughing at his pointless jokes just to be his friend. Julia saw this and turned to Olivia. "Hey, Olive-Girl, you may wanna look out." She pointed at the newest arrivals to the club. Unfortunately for Olivia, she turned at the wrong moment and Mitch saw her very recognizable form. He left his group with his girlfriend and came over to the dancing group of friends. Her friends tried to make an impenetrable ring around her, but he just walked right through, not caring if he hurt anyone when he pushed them. He smirked at her and held his girlfriend closer. "So, still not over me, hey Olivia?" he said with the air of a complete show off. "Get the heck away from me, Mitch." Said Olivia ominously, turning to face him. "I have no desire what so ever to even hear your name anymore. I don't associate with cheaters or morons, which both constitute you." And she turned back to her dancing, her friends smirking at Mitch and turning around also. Not wanting to be outdone, Mitch's smile faded and he said, to inflict the most amount of damage on her as possible, "yeah well, good luck finding someone who'll actually love you, you fat cow." Mitch had no time to duck, because Olivia's had come around and slapped him across the face with a resounding smack that was almost as loud as the music. "Get-away-from-me." Olivia said, anger rising and making her appear as an ancient volcanic goddess who hadn't received a sacrifice in over a decade. The group surrounding her turned with amazement at the sound and stared shocked at what she had done. Olivia just stood there and waited for his departure, but he didn't leave; apparently he didn't know when to quit. "That was the first time you actually made an impression on me." Mitch told Olivia. "You'll never get anywhere like that." And he went to slap her back, but he never got the chance: Olivia, using a new-found lighting quick reflex, caught his hand as it was about to come in contact with his face. Her knuckles were white as she clutched his hand, and he looked complete taken aback. Olivia's eyes burned a fierce green, and the dance floor started to rumble. The dancers stopped moving to look around in a vain attempt to pinpoint the cause of the vibrations. But her eyes remained locked with Mitch's as the quivering ground got louder, and then, to the amazement of everyone, a long, profound-green vine with twelve smaller vines attached to the end burst through the ground between Olivia and Mitch. Olivia let go of his hand and he stumbled back to the ground; Leslie was still standing in utter bewilderment, and then stepped back a few paces. "Oh my God."she said, quietly, but since there was no noise everyone could hear, "she's.she's.one of.them. A mutant." And then she smiled. "A freak. No wonder Mitch broke up with you." But she didn't have her chance to laugh, because at that moment the vine from the floor lunged at her and kept her on the ground, tightening around her entire body. And then, Leslie began to stop struggling, and became paler. The vines were sucking her life force and giving it back to the Earth from whence it came. Suddenly, out of the silence of the dance floor, Julia screamed, "Olivia! Olivia, stop it! You're going to kill her!" Olivia then snapped out of the trance she was in and became herself again. Realizing what she had done by looking down, she quickly tried to release the vines from Leslie's body, but they wouldn't budge. No, no! she thought in her head. Stop! I didn't want to kill anyone! And the vines suddenly released her and the vine returned back to the ground through the hole in the floor. Leslie, sat there on the floor, regaining her energy, and looked absolutely horrified at what had just happened, and so did everyone else, especially Mitch. "I-I-I'm so sorry!" Olivia pleaded, horrified, too, at what she had done. But when she tried to reach down and help Leslie up, the girl pushed herself away and screamed, "Get away from, you freak!" Odette stepped back from her, and then turned to face everyone looking at her with either a face full of amazement/confusion or absolute revulsion. Realization dawned then that she must run; get as far away from here as possible. As she began to walk towards the door, the crowd of onlookers parted to let her through, and then she began to run, out of the front door and down the street. In the distance as she ran, she could hear the sirens of the cop cars going to the club, and everyone would tell them: this mutant came and tried to kill a girl. Hitting people as she ran, she turned and ran into the wooded area, leading into the forest that was around the block from the club, not caring where she went or how she got there. All around her, as horrifying thoughts passed through her mind, large white lilies sprang up behind her, as she ran deeper into the woods, finally slowing down and stopping in a glade soaked with moonlight. On her hands and knees, sweat poured down her brow, dirt on her pants legs, her whole body shaking. What have I done, she asked the voice of her mother in her head, what have I become? For once the voice was silent, and this only made Olivia feel more alone than she already was. Curling up in a ball, she was about to cry, when.Now, I said no tears. Her deceased mom's voice sounded in her head. You are who you are, make the best of it. I won't be able to help you anymore. Good bye, my darling, and good luck. And the voice faded away, forever.  
"Mom?" Olivia asked the voice out loud, "Mom! Come back, please! I need you! Please.come back."she was going to cry again, but then, she realized she didn't want to fall into a well of self-pity, so she pulled her head up and looked to the moon, shining with untainted light down on her, renewing some kindle of hope that had been in her whenever she heard her mom's voice. Getting up, she looked around her, and at the path of lilies that had followed her to this place. Gazing around, she knew what she had to do, and so began testing out what gift and curse had been bestowed upon her, to shape her new life and home; or so she thought.  
  
Chapter 3 (August 8th, 2003) 


	2. disclaimer

Disclaimer: I am not making money using the originally existing characters from X-Men: Evolution. I am writing this story completely for recreational purposes and am not taking any credit for characters created by Marvel. The only characters to which I lay claim are my original one, which include Olivia, Julia, and Gwenevere. Other than that, I fully worship and admire Marvel and their characters. I bow down to you, Marvel makers!!! (hehe) 


	3. chapter 3

Chapter 3 (August 8th, 2003)  
  
Earlier that day, Kurt Wagner sleepily turned over in his dorm bed at the Xavier Institute. Sun beams shot through the half closed blinds right into his eyes, and he squeezed them shut. Ugh, he said to himself, sunlight means waking up.he groaned; but that means eating! His comprehension quickly destroyed any unhappiness that might have plagued him about waking up, and he quickly got out of bed; he got cleaned up and headed down the staircase of the school towards the dining hall, the hallways littered with clusters of chatty and giggling students filing passed him and slowing him down. "I'm really hungry." he said aloud, "I think I'll take a short cut." and with the smell of sulfur and a small*bamph*, Kurt was inside the kitchen, one of the first people by the fridge for breakfast. As he poked his head inside the doors, he grabbed everything he could get his hands on, to the dismay of the people behind him on line.  
He sat down at a table with a few of his friends: Cyclops (Scott), Wolverine (Logan), Jean Grey, and Shadowcat (Kitty). "Ah, always the early bird..." said Jean playfully, "It's 10:45, Kurt." "I know." Kurt just smiled and dug into his bowl of cereal, fruit, toast, eggs, etc. The rest of the group talked on about nothing in particular, when Jean said suddenly, "The Professor wants us; now." Wolverine and Scott looked at her in slight confusion, but Kitty just looked at Kurt in slight disgust at his eating habits, which were none too charming at the moment. "C'mon, guys, I hear him." Jean urged, getting up and heading towards the door. Through a mouthful of food, Kurt asked, "Hey, Jean, are you gonna finish that?" and indicated the half eaten egg omelet on her plate. Kitty rolled her eyes and said, "C'mon, Nightcrawler, let's go." Reluctantly, Kurt left his empty plate on the table and followed the group down the hall to Professor X's office.  
Kurt's stomach rumbled a little as they entered the office, and he half thought of *bamphing* back to the kitchen, but thought it best not too ignore the Prof.'s call. So, while everyone greeted the Prof. with a friendly good morning and took their seats in various chairs around the office, Kurt teleported to the top of a tall lamp, his devilish blue tail wrapped around the pole of it.  
"I've called you here to tell you," he began what was going to be the classic "you have new mission" speech as Kurt liked to call them. With a sideways glance from the Prof., Kurt blushed a little at being caught thinking this and curled a little tighter around the lamp. "We're going to be having a new member coming to our school quite soon." He spoke coolly, and everyone knew this was going to be a touchy subject, so they listened very closely, "we all know that he hasn't been the best.behaved mutant or a model student, but I've been tuning into his thoughts lately and it seems he's had enough with the group he's currently in." he paused and looked around; everyone was practically on the edges of their seats, even Kurt, who technically wasn't on a seat, was leaning as far forward as he could without falling off the lamp. "It' Todd from the Brotherhood."  
Everyone, with the exception of Jean, who had known this since she entered the room, dropped their jaws. Kurt finally fell off the lamp, unfortunately taking it down with him, sending it crashing to the floor. But the shattering of the lamp didn't break the shock that filled the room. Logan was the first to recover and break the silence.  
"You mean Toad? That Stinkboy from the Brotherhood who's always causing us problems?" Logan said almost in full disbelief. Jean turned and gave him that, "You shouldn't be talking" look and turned back to the Prof.  
"Will he be coming to us, or do we have to go and get him?" Jean was seemingly unaware of how odd the Professor's statement had sounded to everyone else. Scott looked at her surprised as well, but then remembered that she was telepathic and would have known.  
"He should arrive at around 8:15 tonight, but you'll need to be ready to help him should some of the Brotherhood think his departure a detriment to their order." Kurt had gotten up, a little dizzy at first, and just listened to the scenario unfold, trying not only to comprehend what was going on, but to also ignore the groan of his stomach as well.  
"But why does he want to come here?" Kitty asked, still thoroughly confused.  
"Because," answered the Prof., "he's simply had enough with the way the Brotherhood is run. He wants to be accepted, but no one has given him a single ounce of compassion."  
"Can't imagine why."Logan murmured. Scott silenced him from any further comments with a look. Then he said, "We'll be ready by 8, Professor." The Prof. smiled and adjourned the X-.Men. as they were leaving the office, a wave of anticipation swept over them; Toad, the Toad from the Brotherhood of Mutants, who had been one of their long time enemies, was going there, to the Institute! Reasons for this swam through their minds, but were disturbed by the very loud grumbling sound of a certain someone's stomach.  
"Hey, is it lunch time yet?" Kurt asked them. Everyone gawked at him with an, "I can't believe you, you just ate!" look, while Kitty just rolled her eyes and kept walking, muttering something that sounded vaguely like, "The Bottomless Pit" as she headed for her dorm room.  
  
At 8:00, the "Rescue Group" stationed themselves around the front gate of the grounds, as the persistent light of the sun blazed in a burst of rubies and yellow diamonds juts before it would disappear behind a far off hill. Kurt *bamphed* into a tree, crunching on a cookie he swiped form the kitchen on his way there, and sat ready to signal when he saw Toad coming; the rest of the group hid in the darkening brush, their sense all alert to any sudden movements or footsteps not coming form the direction of the Institute.  
At 8:16, Nightcrawler's gleaming yellow eyes shown down on the awaiting group from inside the covering of the wind-blown leaves. "He's coming," he whispered down to them; when he looked to the road again, his face flashed with a bit of nervousness. "And Quicksilver and Avalanche are right behind him!." There was a pause. "They're just teasing him," Kurt continued, sounding a bit disgusted, "otherwise they would've caught him already."  
The X-Men peered out from their hiding places and saw the hopping form they knew as Toad coming as quickly as could down the lane, followed closely by a crack in the ground and a streak of silver.  
"Kurt!" Cyclops called to Nightcrawler from behind a tree, "Go teleport to him, bring him back inside the gates. We'll take care of those two creeps." once again, with a *bamph* and a sulfuric scent, Kurt was at one moment in the tree, then a few feet in front of Toad. Toad stopped hopping for a moment, quite surprised, then Kurt grabbed his arm and teleported him back onto the Institute's grounds. However, before Toad could say s a single word, which would undoubtedly annoy Kurt to no end, he flicked his tail to a sensitive spot on the back of his neck; Toad fell to the ground just as if he were over-tired and Kurt kept on eye on him and the fighting, making sure no one tried to sneak passed him.  
Cyclops and Shadowcat kept Avalanche at bay, with her phasing through him, avoiding his attacks, and Cyclops shooting optic blasts at him.. Wolverine and Jean were having fun picking up Quicksilver, who'd been stopped by Jean's power in mid-air, and tossing him against a tree nearby. In a few minutes, with the rumble of a small tremor and a shot of silver, the two chasers headed back to their headquarters, defeated once again.  
Smiling with smug satisfaction, the X-Men turned and carried Toad into the infirmary of the Institute. Only a few minutes later did he awaken, with Professor X waiting to greet him cordially. Kurt had meanwhile *bamphed* into the kitchen for some popcorn, then back again, to see what the heck was going on.  
"Good evening, Todd," the Professor said kindly, "I trust that you have safely been brought to our facilities?"  
Toad was still a little white, but managed an answer: "Yeah, man, just a little shaken up, and I've got a pain in my neck." he looked accusingly sideways at Nightcrawler who stopped crunching for a second, in the middle of a mouthful to look innocently at the reprimanding eyes now upon him. He smiled weakly and dove right back into his popcorn.  
"Well, Todd," the Prof. continued, "since you seem to be alright, as Beast has already assured that you have no new physical injuries, what about you telling us about the circumstances surrounding your sudden departure from your previous affiliation?"  
Todd looked embarrassed a moment, sighed, then said, "It'd like this, man: the last few weeks I've been getting treated really badly, and I mean more than normal. So then, I found out this morning that Wanda had left, permanently. So I figured, what's the point in staying?" He looked around at all of them, Logan wearing no emotion but Toad could tell he still thought that he was a slime ball. "Look I'm really serious. I wanna turn over a new leaf, be one of you guys." He paused. "Plus I really dig the costumes."  
Jean snorted, Logan and Kitty rolled their eyes, and Scott shook his head and smiled, while Kurt just kept on munching the last bit of his popcorn.  
"Alright then, Todd," the Prof. finally said, appearing satisfied with his answer, "welcome to the Xavier Institute.and the X-Men." Todd smiled appreciatively at the Prof. With a sudden change of tone, however, the Prof. said, "All of you, please join me in my study right now." And he exited the room heading to his study down the hall, leaving everyone except Jean looking questioningly back at him, and Kurt getting ready to *bamph* back to the kitchen for some more popcorn.  
The group, now including Toad, entered the study, Kurt complete with a new bowl of popcorn and situated on top of a small desk, once again munching away and gazing at the mutant detection screen, shoving handful after handful of popcorn in his mouth. The X-men looked at the screen and saw the life-sized, round about picture of a girl with curly brown hair, 15, with bright, green eyes. The Prof. took off the helmet attached to the machine as they came into the smaller room behind the bookcase.  
"Her name is Olivia Bloomwood," he told them, "age 15, very smart; her powers surfaced in a club full of people in Black Towers, near the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. She's currently taking shelter in a small grove in the midst of a forest there. Her power is control over plants and their growth, but be careful because we're still not sure what kind of state she's in." He turned then and faced the younger mutants. "Kitty, Kurt, I want you to go and get Rogue and go and pick Olivia up. Take the jet and go get her before the Brotherhood does. She's very strong but very volatile now."  
Toad interjected, "Hey, Professor let me go, too." Professor X turned to him, slightly confused, "I wanna make up for the way I was.I know what it's like to feel like her in that situation."  
"Very well, Todd," answered the Prof., "you can go, but be careful. We don't know how she'll react to seeing more mutants. And Kurt-"Kurt looked up from his now empty second bowl of popcorn, "I suggest you go in cloak so as not to alarm her." Kurt nodded in reply and clicked the button on his cloaking device to his normal street wear.  
"I'll go start the jet, Nightcrawler, you go get Rogue." Kitty told him, and with a *bamph* he was gone. "Todd, you come with me. I'll show you the jet." And they walked out of the room.  
"Jean, Scott, Logan; I'm not sending you with them," the Professor started, "because I have a rumor I want you to all follow up." 


	4. chapter four

Chapter 4: August 11th, 2003  
  
Meanwhile.(this is happening as the X-Men detection screen is coming up and they're finding out about Olivia.)  
  
Olivia surveyed the clearing in a blaze of moonlight: there were enough trees to most of the circle's edges to keep any curious people out of her new territory, except for the way she came in, of course, but she could fill that in later. A small river trickled down what was once a mountain of boulders but was now a small pile of pebbles. She did a quick chuckle to herself as she gazed at the clear flowing waters, and heard its untroubled melody dancing through the night.  
"Hm. It's amazing," she began pensively, "how something full of the same life as I does not have to worry about such trivial matters as humans do. I wish it were that easy. All the waters do are flow and cycle, run along to the bigger ocean, their bigger picture. I wish our lives were that simple." She sighed and turned away from the river to begin to shape the grove to her specifications.  
"Let's see.I'll need a bed, definitely." She moved her hands uncertainly at first, then brought them higher: thick vines rose form the bases of two trees, twisting and turning and forming a makeshift but very useful hammock bed. A bit amazed at how good she could already control her powers, she turned now to the small spot of earth by the river, a little bit fuller on her confidence. "I'll need something to eat.this ought to be fun." she pulled her hands forward towards the space of earth. In seconds a huge victory garden appeared as if it had been there for a decade: three huge pumpkins that could house a small child when hollowed out, six stalks of corn with gilded ears upon them, twelve cucumber plants with three foot long products and one seven foot tall apple tree with fruits the sizes of grapefruits. There were many other samples of edible goodies, but Olivia's mind turned into a new direction now as she gazed at all of her resources: What if.there was a way to grow hybrids that were never seen before? Things that normally wouldn't be possible if she weren't a mutant? Well, what was the worst that could happen?  
So, full of a newer confidence she had never really known before, because she had never been the first at doing new things except in advanced gardening at school, Olivia focused all of her thoughts into the creation of a hybrid that no one had ever known before.but what would it's purpose be? To feed? To be beautiful? To heal? YES! That was it! A healing plant! She never knew what could possibly happen to her out there.alone at the very place where the Jersey Devil had supposedly been sighted several times.wait: she didn't believe in those rumors, but still.she never knew when she'd need it. So focusing all of her energy and thoughts, she lifted a hand and closed her eyes. I need a plant, she said softly to herself, which combines all the healing elements of every plant.as she thought these things, there was a slight rumble in the patch of earth that was left in the victory garden, and soon a shoot popped out of the ground. It looked like a mix between a rosebush and an aloe vera plant, but mostly aloe vera.  
  
Olivia felt something complete in her, and she slowly cracked an eye open. What faced her was a plant with small white buds and tentacle like appendages coming out from the base of which looked like a rosebush.  
"I did it." she said triumphantly out loud, "I actually did it!" beaming with pride, Olivia walked over to her plant, and stroked its soft, white petals. They were smooth as glass but as soft as silk. But then a cloud of doubt appeared in her mind: what if it doesn't heal though? It may look like a hybrid, but can it perform the tasks of a super healing plant? To prove-or disprove- to herself that this plant was the real thing, she called a vine from the earth. A bit fearfully, she formed it into a sharp point with an almost razor edge, and commanded it to slash across her cheek. In a blaze of slight pain a red scrape appeared on Olivia's face and blood oozed from the wound. Grabbing one of the flowers, almost in a panicking way, she crushed it into her fist and felt it become a sort of liquid goop; she winced in pain at her movements and pushed her fist onto the cut and rubbed in the juices of the plant deeply into her skin. The pain vanished almost the same moment the juices touched her cheek, and she could have sworn that she felt the skin weave itself back together. Wanting to know the exact results of her hybrid, Olivia shuffled over to the stream and cautiously peeked at her reflection; a smudge of blood was strewn across her cheek, so she wiped it away with the back of her hand, and, to her immense relief and surprise, there was nothing left of the gash but a faint red coloration on her skin. Her glory was sort-of short lived tough as she gazed into the eyes of her manifestation in the stream. "My eyes." she stared in half horror and amazement, "what happened to my eyes!!!" The whites of her eyes looked as if a two year old had colored the inside of her eyes like a drawing with an olive green crayon, and shown as a background for the deeper green of her irises. She then saw that her arms had grown these green, leafy-like coverings, thin, but still very visible compared to her once pale arms. Her breath quickened and her face contracted into fear and shame, but then she remembered that no one was going to see her again, if she could help it, so why worry about it? As she relaxed a little bit she noticed too that her fingernails seemed to have grown a permanent layer of morphing green polish. Not even bothering to take it off, she stepped over to her hammock and sank into the vines; it was not a very comfortable fit, so she got up again and called for a moss growth on top of the vines. With a new mattress of moss to comfort her, she sank down again into the vine hammock. After a few moments of tossing and turning, she realized she wasn't at all sleepy; in fact she couldn't even have been more awake. Well, you know you can't stay here forever, said a reasoning voice in her head, what will you do when someone finally stumbles onto your.ingenious hideout? Another voice said, she's right you know. You can't live without human contact forever. You'll go insane! You don't know what you'd do after being alone here for, say, 10 years and then some innocent little kid stumbles upon your secret? What would you do? "I hate these voices of reason.always ruining my ideas" Olivia grumbled. "I hate it when they're right." "Well, you must know they are, since you're hating them that much." Said a voice from the grove entrance. Olivia turned very startled and looked to the voice's owner.  
  
Back at the Institute, Shadowcat began starting the jet while Toad situated himself in a passenger seat. She looked over her shoulder. ".Are you okay?" she asked him; he was getting pale and his hands were clenched to white on the armrests. He quivered a little. "I don't really like flying." he stammered nervously, and he gulped loudly as the engines began to kick on. Kitty chuckled to herself and turned back to the controls. There was a * bamph * next to Toad, causing him to jump out of his almost a foot into the air, and Kurt appeared, rubbing the back of his head. "What happened to you?" Kitty asked him. "Ask her." Kurt answered in a sort of miserable tone as Rogue boarded the jet. She looked annoyed, and gave him a "drop dead" glare in Kurt's direction. He slinked away, avoiding the full blast of her stare, and seated himself into one of the pilot seats. "The Blue Genius over there teleported into my room while I was reading," Rogue started, her voice laced with normal annoyance, "he was hanging by his tail right over my head and when I saw him he nearly gave me a heart attack, so I hit on the back of the head with my book." She crossed her arms, sat down in a chair, and looked out the window. Kitty giggled and Kurt wore a hurt look as he continued to sooth the small lump on hi head. Toad managed a weak smile. "It's not that funny." he said, looking for sympathy, "She was reading War and Pace.hard cover." Kitty and Todd laughed harder as a smug sort of smile crossed Rogue's lips. Finding no comfort, Kurt reached into his backpack, pulled out a bag of chips and began to chow down once more. With Kurt and Kitty at the controls, the jet took off into the night, with Toad holding onto the armrests for dear life, wide eyed and sweating. During the trip, Kurt pulled a few barrel rolls and loop the loops in the night sky, increasing Toad's uncomforting feelings. Finally, Kitty scolded- "Kurt, normally I wouldn't mind, but if he pukes on the floor because of you, you're cleaning it up." Not really wanting to, Nightcrawler ceased in performing the various tricks the jet was capable of. After a while of quiet between all of them, Kurt finally broke the silence. "So.you think she'll be nice? She looked kind of pretty." Everyone turned to look at him, his animal-like feet on the steering apparatus, piloting the jet. With the exception of Toad, who could do no more than keep his eyes towards the floor and cockpit as the jet flew onward; everyone turned to him and smirked. "What?" he asked, removing his feet from the wheel. "Aaaaahh!!! What are you doing?!" Toad asked, practically jumping out of his skin. Kurt rolled his eyes and continued steering, thinking, Well, she was kind of cute. By the time Kurt had finished his second bag of chips and was halfway through his third jumbo cookie, the mutants were preparing to land in an isolated area of forest in Black Towers, near where Olivia had her hiding place. On a small video screen, the Professor suddenly appeared. "Excellent. Good work, kids. Alright, according to the coordinates of the locator, she should be taking rest directly north of here, maybe a few hundred yards. I have received information though," he continued sounding a little grave, "there is another mutant there with her. There appears to be no hostility, but be careful. Inform me when you have them both on board the jet." "Okay Prof." They all answered. The image on the screen zapped out and they walked out of the jet, Toad very grateful for it. Kitty took out a compass, searched for north, and walked through the dark vegetation. The light from their flashlight seemed like a firefly in the vastness of the dark foliage, but soon they saw narrow shafts of light through breaks in the trees ahead. Kurt got a little nervous as they came closer to the clearing where there were two new mutants- wait, the Professor had not mentioned the power of the other mutant! What if it made things explode from the inside out? Or made it so you couldn't ever eat again? AAAAHHHHH!!! Now that was a fate worse than death for Kurt. But in his mind he knew that he'd be ok. Professor X wouldn't have let them go if the mutant was too dangerous for them to handle.would he? "No, Kurt, I wouldn't." Came the Professor's voice inside his head. He jumped a little at hearing this, but came to himself when he realized that he would be separated from the rest of the group. He quickly * bamphed * up to them. "So, what's this chick like anyway?" Toad asked, seemingly not scared of being in the Pine Barrens. "This 'chick,' as you so delicately put it, Toad," Rogue said, "happens to be a very powerful mutant. And I think you should keep your.uh, tongue civil towards her, because we don't want to upset her anymore than she probably is." Kurt scowled in the darkness behind Todd at his choice of words. Chick? He though to himself, does this guy have any manners? Kitty's voice brought him out of his mind scolding of Toad- "Shhh! We're there." Through shafts between the trees, they saw the clearing: the clear stream tumbling over the rocks, an impressive victory garden grown nearby, and two vine hammocks situated next to each other across the glade; there was a shadowy spot that no one seemed to notice where a glowing pair of green and brown eyes stared out of the darkness. "Alright, these trees are too thick to walk through. Kurt, you take Toad, I'll take Rogue, and we'll meet you right on the other side. Try and find a way in without using your powers ok?" "Fine," he said, a little disheartened at not being able to impress the new recruits with his teleporting abilities. "Are you really gonna leave me with this guy?" Toad whined. "Get going, you two!" Rogue growled, "Or I'll drain you and leave you here." Reluctantly the two mutants set off to the left of the circle of trees. Walking along the perimeter, they found no way in, until they met Kitty and Rogue waiting for them almost a full circle around where they started. "Why didn't you tell us?" Kurt asked them, a little annoyed now at having to walk all that way and having nothing to eat. "Because they would have heard us," Kitty told him, looking through the trees, ".if they're even in there. I don't know I can't see a thing. Can you, Rogue?" "Nothing. Let's go, thought. Slowly." Cautiously, the group stepped into the circle of moonlight; they were about to call out to the hiding mutants but were stopped with amazement in seeing the hybrid super healing plant by the river. Letting their guard down, they walked over to it curiously and touched the strange mix of rose buds and aloe vera stems. "What is this thing?" Toad asked, half disgusted half very curious. "I have no idea."Kitty and Rogue said together. ".Wonder if you can eat it." Kurt said to himself. Everyone looked in his direction, but he didn't notice. His attention was now turned to the shadows nearby; he could have sworn that he heard whispers, but. He walked over there guardedly, motioning for the others to follow. As he was about to enter the darkness, two pairs of eyes gleamed to life from their hiding spaces; completely taken aback, Night crawler jumped, then * bamphed * as a huge vine came swinging out of the shade. Unfortunately, Toad was not as quick and was quite surprised to find himself pinned against a tree. Kurt appeared across the glade in a tree branch, but the eyes didn't seem to notice his disappearance and had gone for Rogue as she came closer as well; Kitty went off to help Toad, if she could. Too bad Rogue wasn't that fast either, because she was soon pinned next to Toad, squirming and yelling to be freed. Then, a sonic sort of sound washed from the darkness and a rumble came from the opening of trees; a huge stag charged into the circle, and with the sound of another sonic tone, the stag turned its head to Kitty, and charge at her. She phased through him the first time, but then preceded to the lowest branch she could get to and climbed up in it. Kurt, in the meanwhile, jumped down from the tree and addressed the shadows. "Hey! Olivia! Olivia Bloomwood, we know you're in there." The green set of eyes turned to him, while the brown focused on the stag; Kurt gulped a little. "We're not here to hurt you; we want to help you, both of you! We're mutants, too!" There were muffled whisperings in the dark then, the green eyes turned towards the brown but the brown stayed focused. "What if they speak the truth?" asked the green. "No, they can't possibly be mutants," the brown said "they don't even look like us." "But what if they are?" "There's no way!" "I do look different!" Kurt spoke up, and reached down to turn off his cloak. Seeing this, the green eyes widened and sent another thick vine in Kurt's direction; looking up at the wrong moment, Kurt dodged it, but the plant took a slight hit at his cloaking device. It buzzed and sparked a moment, and when the vine came back for another swing, destined this time to hit him, something happened: Nightcrawler's cloak turned off, and he became the little, blue devilish creature he so looked like. Cringing before the vine, Kurt realized that the vine had stopped right before his face, and slowly began retracting. Both pairs of eyes turned to him in bewilderment, and the stag backed down from the tree where Kitty was stranded, looked to the shadows for another sonic beep, and then turned to gallop off into the woods. Slowly, Kitty phased down from the tree, and the vines holding Toad and Rogue released them and sank back into the earth. As Kitty ran to them, Kurt stood in the clearing, embarrassed at having to be seen like this, but then the eyes began to move forward out of the dark. Olivia stepped out first, her completely green eyes now lightened in the moonlight; followed by a girl a little shorter than her with brown eyes, wavy, long brown hair, glasses and a hat that covered the top of her head. They were still staring amazed at Kurt. Finally, breaking the stares, Olivia spoke: "My name is Olivia Bloomwood," she began, in almost a solemn voice. They knew this but they didn't want to interrupt her as she continued, "And this is one of my best friends, Julia Friden." "We're very sorry that we attacked you," began Julia, in pure earnest, "we just didn't know what to do. We figured that no one could find this place if they weren't looking, at least we hoped that, so we thought you had come looking for Olivia." "Well, we were," Kitty said, "originally, but now we came for both of you; but in a good way!" she answered quickly at their slightly troubled stares. "We're from a Mutant Institute up in New York." Rogue continued, "a man named Charles Xavier runs it; it's like a boarding house for mutant people like us. I'm Rogue, by the way." "Kitty, call me Shadowcat." ".Todd. Call me Toad" "I'm Kurt; Nightcrawler." He looked mainly at Olivia, who in turned stole a quick look at him, and blushed and looked away. "Call me Persephone." Olivia said "I'd tell you to call me Doolittle but that would be too cliché." Julia said, and that seemed to ease the intense atmosphere. "I'm Soniker."  
  
*Author's notes: Soniker is short for sonic speaker, because that's how she talks to the animals!!! Don't worry they'll be another chapter soon as I can make one, but please review in the meantime! Thanks! 


	5. chapter 5 i'm back!

August 18th, 2003 Chapter 5  
  
"Sorry about the whole stag issue, Shadowcat." Soniker apologized after proclaiming she could talk to animals. They were still in the clearing, but the hour was later so there were no longer any shadowy places. Persephone had made four more vine and moss hammocks and everyone was lying peacefully in one, getting to know each other better. Olivia nearly collapsed into hers because of the fighting then making the hammocks, but after a drink from the stream and sitting down a little shakily, she said she'd be ok. Nightcrawler kept glancing at back at her, with her al green eyes, leaf-like layer of growth covering her once-pale arms; the leaves shivered in the silver moonlight and cool June winds swept their hair. Toad kept avoiding everyone's eyes, except Soniker's, which he seemed determined not to meet, but always managed to.  
"So." began Rogue, turning on her side in the soft moss to face the new recruits, "how exactly did you two.find each other?"  
"Well, it was more that Julia found me," Olivia started, then launched into the story:  
  
(This picks up from Chapter 4 where Olivia heard the voice from behind her in the grove.)  
  
Olivia turned very startled and looked to the voice's owner. To her sheer amazement and joy, her friend Julia stood in the entrance to the clearing. "Julia!" Olivia called, seething with happiness at a familiar face. However, when she attempted to get up from the swing and go over to her friend's welcoming face, she felt her legs give way on the ground and she collapsed. The last thing she saw was Julia's worried face over her, and she passed out.  
Few minutes later, she awoke, lying on her back in the cool earth, a few pieces of her moss bedding beneath her head. Olivia sat up, still a bit dizzy, and looked around; no, she said to herself, it wasn't a dream. Why'd you seem so hopeful? Seeing her friend up, Julia came over to her from the stream, knelt down next to her and spoke:  
"Wakey, wakey, Olive-girl!" she said happily. Olivia turned to her, still unbelieving that Julia had found her.  
"What.Julia how'd you know?" she stammered, struggling to get to her feet. Julia stopped her efforts.  
"Whoa, now. You passed out, remember? You probably used all of your energy in making this place. Seriously I thought you'd know better." She stopped ad smiled, looking at her friend. Olivia still looking quite bewildered asked again, "How'd you know?"  
"Oh, I'm a mutant, too!" she answered as if it were no big deal. She stared at Julia; one of her best friends, aside from her pal, Gwen Sparrow, who had taken to private schooling and phone line communication, was a mutant, and she had never known! Coming out of a light shock, she asked, "How.for how long?"  
"Oh.I think since January, you know that's when I started wearing my hat to school." She tipped her hat, then paused, and took it off. Olivia gasped as she gazed upon a pair of mouse brown cat ears sitting atop Julia's head. Julia frowned. "Sheesh don't look so surprised. There are a lot of people you know who are like us; some are just more noticeable, like you and me.oh and Gwen, too. That's why she left school. She couldn't hide her mutation."  
Olivia started, "What's wrong with her?"  
"There's nothing wrong with her," Julia corrected patiently, "it's just that.well, you try hiding a fourteen-foot wingspan! And talons, to boot! She calls herself Raptor now, and in fact, I called her when I got out of the club. She should be here by about 9:00." Julia stopped a moment so it would all sink in. Olivia just stared. Now this was weird, yet how could she not have known? If only she'd noticed the changes in her friends.guilt flooded through her.  
"Hey don't think it's all your fault." Julia reassured her laying a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Yours is easier to hide than most. I've got to permanently wear a hat now. You just need to wear long sleeves and glasses! Hey, remember when Mitch tried to take my hat off in gym? I almost killed him for that." They both broke into giggles at the anecdote they remembered so well.  
"But wait," Olivia said, energy returning so she could stand again. "What is your power and how did you find me?"  
"I can talk to animals, for one, plus a trail of luminous lilies in the middle of the Pine Barrens isn't exactly a normal occurrence." She smiled at the sarcasm, and so did Olivia. She raised her hands again and another hammock of vines appeared in the trees.  
"I'll make another one for Gwen- I mean Raptor when she gets here. I don't want to drain myself again."  
"Speaking of names, you should get one!" Julia said. "Mine's Soniker now. What do you want yours to be?"  
"Now this was something Olivia hadn't considered yet, but then again she hadn't had a reason to. So, digging deep in her mind, she searched for a suitable title.  
".Persephone." She said finally, and happily accepting the new nickname. Julia pondered this.  
"Cool. I like it!" she smiled. Then Olivia asked, "Wait, what are we gonna do when Raptor gets here?"  
"Well, we can do one of two things. One: we could stay here and hide out forever, or until somebody find us. Or two: we could try to-" but she was interrupted by the scuffling sound of a small raccoon waddling into the clearing. He squeaked to Julia, and her face became focused in worry.  
"Come with me," she said and pulled Olivia into the shadows of the nearby trees.  
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, scared now herself.  
"There are people coming our way; four of them. From what the raccoon said, they were teens. Let's just hide here, and hopefully, they'll go away before they find this place."  
"There's just one problem." Olivia said in the darkness.  
"What?"  
"Your eyes are glowing."  
Julia turned to her. "So are yours. That's weird. Ok.ummm.all right, when you see them come in, if they do, keep your eyes closed just enough so that you can see. Good I can hardly see the glow. Now keep them that way; if they get too close." her voice trailed off. Olivia knew what would happen if they did get too close, but she hoped they wouldn't. Lack of energy kept her from closing the break in the circle of trees.  
A few moments later, four teenagers entered the clearing (Shadowcat, Toad, Rogue, and Nightcrawler). They looked around, and when they laid eyes on the hybrid plant, they became entranced by it. Olivia kept watching them, eyes almost shut, and she paid close attention to the pale, dark- haired boy. He was kind of cute.Julia noticed this and smirked to herself, but didn't say anything. When he made the comment about eating the plant, Olivia worked hard to stifle her laughter and Julia gave her a quick "Shush!"  
  
".And that's when Kurt came towards us and.well, the rest is history." Olivia finished and they all got up. "Hey does anyone have the time?" Julia asked. Rogue glanced down at her watch.  
"Yeah, it's about 9:00." She answered.  
"Oh, good then." Julia said pleasantly. "So.this clearing's about.20 feet across. That should give her enough room to land. I'd better signal."and with that she threw back her head and let out a prominent sonic blast which flooded the cool night air. Owls, hawks, buzzards and other birds began circling around the lack of trees above their heads. There was a somewhat distant screech in reply, and Julia smiled triumphantly. "She'll be here in a minute." She told the waiting group.  
Olivia was as anxious as everyone to see Gwen; she had spoken to her friend quite often, but to see her the way she would be was going to be quite interesting."You might wanna step back," Julia warned, "and grab on to something." Everyone backed up to the surrounding trees and grabbed hold of the nearest rooted object they could.  
Out of the face of the full moon, a shadow appeared and began circling around the grove's treetops. Gusts of wind from the shadow's wings blew down into the hollow, and the mutants kept hold on their supports. The flying shadow that was Raptor circled lower and lower, then finally landed in the middle of the clearing, stopping the gusts of wind for which everyone was grateful. A tall girl with glasses, 18, vampiric green eyes, long auburn hair, and a pair of moonlit auburn wings 7 feet long a piece stood there in a long black trench coat, baggy black pants, and a black t- shirt with the silhouettes of a wolf and eagle on with black sneakers. She had a black backpack with spikes on her back and carried two large suitcases. She looked around at the mutants emerging from the shelter of the trees, smiling at their gawking expressions and wind-blown hair.  
"Hey Soniker, you didn't tell me there'd be so many people." Raptor said, "And where's Olivia? I haven't seen her since."she paused, thinking. "God, it must've been December!" Olivia was the last to come out and she paused right in the moonlight, looking teary-eyed at her friend. Their eyes met and Olivia and Gwen ran into a strong hug. Through silent tears, Olivia's eye remained shut until she felt the place where Gwen's wings came out of the rips in her coat; there were upraised areas that felt like they'd been slashed with a knife.it sent chills up Olivia's spine.  
They let go after a moment and gazed at each other, then Raptor said, "holy cow, Olivia. You certainly have changed since December." She smiled.  
"It's Persephone now." Olivia answered; then she turned around. "These guys-and girls-are from a place called the Xavier Institute up in Bayville, New York. They want to take us there." Gwen turned to look at them and they smiled back welcomingly.  
"I'm Kitty; Shadowcat."  
"Rogue."  
"Just call me Toad, birdie." Rogue and Kitty glared at him, but Raptor just smiled wryly.  
"Kurt, Nightcrawler."  
She smiled, then said to Julia, "oh yeah I brought your stuff and some of Oliv- I mean, Persephone's as well." She smirked at this, but it was friendly, and Olivia returned it, the memories of all the fun they had had came back to her: Gwen was like the sister she had never had, sharing all of her age-earned perks with her and Julia, driving to the mall, movies, shopping, cafes, anything! Then something came into the light of Olivia's mind:  
"Hey Gwen, what did your parents say about this?" for the first time since she had arrived, Raptor's smile completely faded from her face and there was silence. The light and happiness drained from her eyes, and Julia broke in quickly, "Well, now that we're all happily acquainted, let's go. Don't want to get back to late now do we?" she finished I a hurried voice s she walked out of the clearing into the dark if the Pine Barrens, followed closely by a hopping Toad. Gwen followed her somberly at first, then her happiness returned as she trudged after Julia in the thickets.  
Shadowcat and Rogue looked at each for a moment, then Rogue called, "Don't you need one of us to show you where the jet is?"  
"Nah, it's ok, I've got Toad with me. He remembers where it is." Julia's answer came back muffled by the growth. "This ought to be interesting." Shadowcat said as she and Rogue followed the parade of mutants to the jet, leaving Persephone and Nightcrawler to follow. There was a quiet pause between the two "deformed" mutants, and it seemed that as they looked into each other's eyes, something seemed to just *click* inside. Kurt smiled at Olivia and she gave a dimple-faced smile right back.  
"So.I still don't know what your power is, Kurt." She said rather shyly.  
"I'm a teleporter." He answered, only too eager to show off his abilities. "Look." Yet again, a small *bamph* was heard and Nightcrawler disappeared from Olivia's view. She looked startled, and looked around.  
"Boo!"  
Olivia jumped nearly a foot off the ground as Kurt laughed from behind her. After catching her breath, she smiled slyly and said, "So that's how you got away from me the first time. I was wondering where you had gone." A loud grumble from Kurt's stomach stopped the conversation there. He looked very embarrassed, but Olivia asked, "Are you hungry? Just go take something from over there. Heaven knows we won't be using it." She indicated the victory garden by the stream, and Kurt thankfully ran over to it, plucking several large apples from the tree and stuffing them in his bag and one in his mouth. She's pretty and can grown food at any time.he thought to himself.She's great!  
Returning to her side, he said, "You want to take the shortcut?" he held out his three-fingered hand and looked at her, waiting. At first, she looked at his hand then up to his face and smiled. Putting her hand in his, and with another *bamph* Olivia and Kurt were back at the jet, waiting for everyone else and telling each other more about themselves.  
  
When the rest of the group had arrived at the jet, Julia and Gwen amazed at how they had gotten there so fast they all clamored inside while Kurt and Kitty started the jet. Toad was none too happy about flying again, but when Raptor offered to fly him back to Bayville, he turned a sickening shade of pale and he said he'd 'stay with the Blackbird, thank you very much.' And with a wry smile, Raptor took a window seat next to Julia and Toad. Olivia sat on the floor in the back. Rogue paged the Professor and told him that instead of two, there were now three new mutants headed for Bayville.  
About halfway through the flight, Julia got up and came to where Olivia sat, head down. She heard quiet sobs from her, desperately trying to be covered up but failing.  
"What's wrong, Olive-girl?" Julia sat down next to her crying friend. She turned her glistening, tear-filled eyes to her.  
"I just realized," she began quietly, tears slowing down from her eyes, leaving shining tracks in the dim light. "Everything that I'll have to give up and all the things I used to know that are now gone.what was left of my family, all my other friends." her eyes began to fill again, "at least in the Barrens I could have had some memory of what it was like."  
"Hey, hey, hey." Julia pulled Olivia close to her in a hug. "We can't change what we've become, so don't bother. I cried at first too, but then I realized that if I cried about it for the rest of my life, then I'd never enjoy all the things I still could do. I'm not saying that you should forget your old life, but remember it and try to live your new life better."  
Olivia looked up at her friend, her mascara running black lines down her face and her green eyes glowed with Julia's brown ones in the dim light.  
"Thanks.Soniker." They smiled together, then Olivia turned to look at Raptor's seemingly sleeping form in the chair, wings touching the floor of the jet, rising and falling with her breath.  
"Hey, Julia, what happened to Gwen, when her parents found out?"  
Julia's face became serious and focused. "This ain't a pretty story, you sure you wanna know?" Persephone looked to Raptor's back again and nodded slowly.  
Julia spoke solemnly. "You know how she supposedly 'moved away' in December? Well, she didn't; she ran- uh, flew, away. When her parents saw what had happened to her, they didn't like it; not very mutant friendly if you know what I mean. They loved her enough, they said, to try and change her to look more human.they tried cutting off her wings." Olivia's eyes widened in horror, but the story went on, "she screamed so much that they stopped, but then they locked her in the basement over Christmas break. When she grew talons, she finally cut herself free, but not before they had whipped and beat her everyday and told her that unless she let them near her again to cut off the wings, she'd die down there." She finished and looked at Olivia's face, now even paler than it normally was with black lines coming down from her eyes. Raptor shed silent tears in her seat at the memories. "She came to me because my house was closer. What a state she was in, let me tell you. Bruises, cut marks, lashings.it's a great pity that some people don't appreciate the gifts that are given unto others. I found her a place on the outskirts and she seemed to be doing fine. She doesn't like to talk about it, so don't mention it ok?" she nodded the settled herself back against the wall, wearing a troubled face as if Gwen's story reminded her of something she too had known.  
Julia looked at her and said, "There's something still wrong, I can tell. What is it?" there was a deafening pause, then: "this is something I've never, ever told anyone, so you promise not to tell?" Julia nodded in an oath response.  
"My dad's been a raging alcoholic all of my life." Olivia whispered. Julia stared at her; now this was something she would never have guessed. "He'd go out, get drunk, maybe go out with a few women, you know, the typical story. Sometimes, he'd come home at around 12 and wake me and mom up with his yelling. Then he'd."she stopped, tears practically running down her cheeks, "he'd beat my mom.and me, if I got in the way. Then one night, when my mom was away for the weekend, he.he tried to." she trailed off, waterfalls falling from both her eyes. Julia was horrified but she continued, "i.I didn't know what to do; he followed me wherever I ran. So finally, I ran to my room and locked the door, and stayed there until my mom came back. I couldn't tell her, and when she found my ripped shirt in the garbage, I told her I'd done it on accident. And then all this happening with Mitch yesterday and now the mutation."  
She paused, turned over, and closed her teary eyes. Julia was silent, then whispered, with a comforting hand on her shoulder, "you don't need to worry anymore, Olive-girl. He won't find you where we're going."  
"What did your parents do when it happened to you, Julia?"  
She sighed and looked thoughtful, remebering. "Nothing, really. You know my parents; I don't think they ever really noticed me to begin with. When I started to talk to the cat during the night and wore my hat permanently, all they said was, 'oh well, at least no one knows.' I was lucky. I think they just.forgot about me after that. I mean, they didn't starve me or anything; they just stopped paying as much attention to me. I doubt they'll even notice that I'm gone." She stopped and seemed to be ok with what had happened. She turned to Olivia, who was looking at a far off object only she could see through the floor.  
"Oh." She responded in a far off voice, "sorry."  
"Hey, I told you not to worry about it.you look tired; maybe you should go to sleep for a while. We should be there soon." "Yeah maybe."still in a far off voice, Persephone answered, then turned over. Julia knew she probably wouldn't get another answer so she got up and walked back to her seat next to a very wide-awake Toad. Nightcrawler looked over his shoulder at her nearly asleep form huddled in the corner, then to Julia who nudged her head for him to go to her.  
"Hey Rogue, could you fly for a while?"  
"Sure." She got up and took his seat at the controls while Kurt walked back to Olivia. He knelt down next to her.  
"Hey."  
"Hey. Shouldn't you be flying this thing?" she didn't turn around.  
"No, Rogue took over for me.are you.ok?" She finally turned and looked at him, and his face fell into a piteous state to see her glowing green eyes magnified with tears.  
"I.I just need.someone to be near me."  
"Do you want me to call Soniker or Raptor?" he offered.  
"No, no.I'm sure they've got other things on their minds." she looked at the two conversing with Kitty in whispers.  
"Well, do you want me to stay here?"  
Olivia gazed into his eyes appreciatively. "Thanks." Kurt sat down next to her, and then put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. She rested her head on his shoulder, and then said, "My boyfriend would never do this for me." Kurt's heart sank; Boyfriend? "I broke with him yesterday when I caught him cheating on me." his insides leapt up at this and his heart did a victory dance. She closed her eyes at this and whispered, "Thanks, Kurt."  
"Your welcome." he answered, and rested his head on top of hers. She was soon asleep next to him as they flew over New York City. 


	6. chapter 6

Chapter 6 August 31st, 2003  
  
At 8:30, Julia Friden awoke at hour she normally never would have since it was Sunday, sat up in bed, and scratched her mousy brown left cat ear. Julia peeked over the nightstand between the two beds in the sunlit room at her deeply sleeping friend, Olivia, and smiled. Does she ever move in her sleep, she asked herself, because Olivia was in the same mummy-like position that she had been the night before. She pulled the covers off and went to the suitcase Gwen Friden had brought with her last night. Upon opening, Julia scattered the many clothing articles about, not really caring if they landed on the floor or the bed, and selected her hat, a pair of jeans and a tank top for the day, then headed out of her dorm to the bathroom that Rogue had shown her the night before.  
Across the hallway, Gwen was also waking up a bit earlier than she normally did. She heard the door across the hall open and Julia walking down the hall, and figured she wouldn't be able to get in the shower for a while. Instead she began doing push-ups and sit-ups on the floor of her single room, darker than Olivia and Julia's because of the lack of sunlight on that particular side of the mansion. Twenty minutes later, there was a knock and Julia entered, her hair in a wet ponytail.  
"Hey."  
"Hey, Julia. Is Olivia up yet?"  
"Surprisingly, no. I would have bet she would've been up by 6:30. Anyway, how'd you sleep?"  
Gwen stopped her push-ups there and stood up, full height, and said, "Good I guess. No offense but better than I ever slept in that old building outside of town."  
Julia smiled. "It wasn't meant to be the Ritz, you know." She replied, laughing a little. "Anyway, hurry up and get dressed; Rogue told us we needed to go see the Professor ASAP."  
Gwen went over to her own backpack, not as full as Julia and Olivia's, and took out a pair of jeans and a short sleeved black shirt, then brushed and put up her hair a best as it would go in the early morning. When she was dressed, the two friends exited the room and proceeded down the sunlit hallway and stairs to Professor X's office, which had also been shown to them last night; they passed Kitty's room on the way, and she bid them good morning. It was about 8:45 when Gwen knocked and they were both told to enter and be seated.  
Professor X smiled amiably at them. "Good morning Julia and Gwen. Did you both sleep well?" They nodded polite responses, and he continued, "Good, good.is Olivia awake yet?"  
Gwen responded, "Astonishingly, no. She's usually the one up before everyone else."  
"Well she did have quite an evening.That aside, we can begin. Julia, you are currently in your sophomore year, correct?"  
"Yes, Professor."  
"Good, that's easy enough. The finals for Bayville High start on Tuesday. If you want, I can arrange for you to take them a little later on in the summer."  
She frowned slightly and said sarcastically, "Well, I'd actually rather not take them at all." Gwen and the Professor smiled and shook their heads, and Julia continued, "But since I have to, why not take 'em now anyway."  
"Alright, I'll arrange everything today and you and Olivia will be at school tomorrow."  
Yay.Julia said to herself sarcastically. The Prof. gave her a sideways look and she turned her eyes towards the ceiling, staring at it intently. He then turned to Gwen.  
"Now, Gwen, I understand that you are, or, rather, were a senior this year."  
She nodded and said, trying to hide the pain in her voice, "I had to leave school in December, because of my mutation. But I have been schooling myself at home."  
"That's very good. Lucky for you, there are no finals for senior students and Bayville." A wave of relief swept over Gwen's face while friendly jealousy spread over Julia's. "Now, seeing your mutation, Gwen, I can get you a cloaking device like Kurt has, so you can hide your wings."  
She thought about this a moment, then answered, "Yeah.that would be really great. Thanks, Professor."  
He smiled and turned to Julia. "If you would, Julia, can you remove your hat for a moment." Julia reached up and removed her light blue cap to reveal her burning brown cat ears. "I don't think there would be much need for you to have a cloak as well; you can just keep your hat on."  
"Yep, too bad I can't go out public like this. These things are so cool." She giggled and began playing with her kitty ears, while Gwen looked at her awkwardly.  
"Anyway, I'll need both of you and Olivia to stop by the infirmary sometime today to see Beast for a physical. Now, I must also see Toad, who is actually waiting for you outside Julia," her face brightened instantly and he smiled, "I'll be done with him in a minute, if you'd like to wait for him outside."  
"Sure do! Thanks, Professor!" she shot out of her chair and practically ran out the door. Gwen got up a little slower.  
"Thank you, sir; for the cloak, I mean."  
"You're quite welcome, Raptor."  
As Raptor walked out the door, she could have sworn she heard the Professor's voice in her head saying: "You don't need to be afraid here." she looked back at him and he smiled warmly. Gwen's eyes watered, but she kept her tears behind her eyes and continued out the door, exchanging hellos with Toad as he passed her into the office. Julia was looking after him, until the door closed, the Gwen asked, "What's the deal with you two anyway?"  
Julia looked at her, alarmed at first, then said, "I dunno. I guess it's just one of those things that just clicks. It feels right. And he's really cute and funny."  
Gwen leaved on the wall and thought, hmm, wish I had one of those.  
A few minutes later, he exited, a bit less happy than when he went in.  
"What's the matter, Toady?" Julia asked him.  
"I've gotta take finals.bleh." He grumbled.  
Julia agreed with him. "I know, but better taking them now than the summer." She was interrupted by a *bamph* and Kurt appeared in front of them.  
"Guten morgen." The little blue devil greeted them.  
"Morning, Nightcrawler." Julia and Gwen answered.  
"Is Olivia up yet?" he asked, a bit impatient.  
Gwen smirked, but hid it, and answered, "Not yet. We were just about to go and see if she was."  
"Can you ask her to meet me outside her room at 9:30? I offered to take her around the Institute and to see the Professor since she fell asleep last night." he requested.  
"Sure can." Julia replied. "See you at breakfast, Kurt!" Gwen, Toad, and Julia all walked away down the hall, while Kurt *bamphed* away somewhere else.  
  
A mid-morning sun flared through the window, and Olivia pulled the covers over her head in an effort to keep them out. Ugh, what a night, she said to herself sleepily. She reached for the alarm clock on the nightstand next to her bead, except it wasn't there. Thinking that maybe she had hit the small table and moved it, Olivia reached further and further out, until she lost her balance and accidentally fell with a thud on the floor.  
".Ow." She said, face down on the hard wood floor. "Wait.I don't have a wooden floor." she turned on her back and opened her eyes to a ceiling that wasn't hers. Remembering her so called "dream," Olivia sat up, and reluctantly looked at her arms: they were covered in green leaf-like growths and her fingernails still had the permanent layer of morphing green polish. Fear and dread occupied a place in the pit of her stomach like a lead weight, but then Olivia said to herself, "oh wait! I must be at the Xavier Institute! I've gotta find Gwen and Julia."  
Feeling a bit more comfortable in her surroundings, Olivia got up and looked around the room: there was another bed with messy coverings and an open suitcase with the contents scattered about through it and on the bed.  
"Hmm. Guess I'm sharing a room with Julia." She said aloud. Finding her own suitcase beside her bed, Olivia opened it and selected an outfit for that day; at first she though of wearing long sleeves, but then realized she should save those for when she was outside the grounds. The door opened suddenly and she turned to see Julia entering the room, back first, talking and laughing with someone outside who sounded suspiciously like Toad.  
"Morning!" Julia said happily.  
"G'mornin'." Olivia answered, a little less happy. "How'd I get up here last night?"  
"Oh, Kurt teleported you here. We didn't want to wake you since you'd had such a trying evening." There was a knock at the door and Gwen entered, her hair and wings still a bit wet, shining in the sunlight. "Shower's free. Hey, g'mornin Olivia! I never thought I'd be up earlier than you." She said happily. "How'd you sleep?"  
"Good," she answered wearily, "I had a nice wake up call.falling on the floor." They all laughed and that lightened the mood of the atmosphere.  
  
Julia said, "Well, it's about.9:15. You can go take a shower, then go and talk to the Professor. Gwen, Toad, and I have already talked to him. We're going down to breakfast. See you there!"  
"The shower's down the hall to the left; can't miss it." Gwen offered. "Oh and by the way, Kurt was asking for you before. He said he'll meet you here at 9:30 to take you to see the Professor." She narrowed her eyes and smirked in a friendly way. Olivia blushed and wore a defensive look and manner.  
"Well I-I- shouldn't see why not, he was very courteous to me last night. Is that a crime?"  
Gwen smiled. "No one said it was. See you at breakfast." As the door closed, Olivia heard Julia's voice talking to Toad behind the closed door. Olivia smiled in spite of herself, then took her clothes and headed to the shower.  
  
At 9:30 on the dot almost, there was small *bamph* outside Olivia's door, then a polite knock. Excitedly, she opened the door to an awaiting Kurt, and he smiled.  
"Guten tag." He said happily. Olivia wore a short-sleeved green shirt and jeans; her hair was up in a tight bun in the middle of the back of her head, three pairs of small hoop earrings were hanging from her ears, and a faerie gothic looking necklace hung from her neck. She also had green eye shadow on to match the green leaves of her arms and intense green of her eyes. She smiled welcomingly at him and said, "Good day to you, too." He wore a shirt and over jacket with jeans, and he held out his arm for her to take. They walked like an old time couple down the stairs to Professor X's office.  
Kurt knocked on the door and a friendly, "Come in, you two" was heard from inside. Olivia was surprised that her had known that they were there, but Kurt told her as they entered, "He's telepathic."  
"Ah. I get it." She answered and went inside.  
"Good morning, Olivia. I trust you had a restful evening?" the Professor asked courteously from behind his desk.  
"Y-yes, sir. Thank you, I did." Olivia stammered a nervous response.  
"Please have a seat. Kurt, I'm sorry to ask you this, but could you please wait outside? I would like to speak to Olivia privately if you don't mind." He looked hurt for a moment, then at Olivia, who nudged her head for the door, a bit sorry herself, too; she felt very exposed sitting in the chair with her leafy arms showing and all green eyes shining uncovered in front of a man she had never met. Kurt was the last comfort she had there, but she knew not to ask the Professor if he could stay, that might sound rude.he *bamphed* away to wait in the hall, and she looked at the Professor and he smiled.  
"So, you lived in a region of New Jersey called Black Towers, in the Pine Barrens, correct?" she nodded. "Are you familiar, then, with a certain chemical company called Dory and Mills?"  
"Yes, sir, my old boy-" she stopped there a moment, remembering Mitch for the first time since she had cried last night. The thought of him and the way he had acted made her livid, yet at the same time she felt a sort of.empty space in her chest where he used to be.The Professor said, "I'm sorry to bring up the subject of your old boyfriend, but I need to know, I'm afraid."  
She looked a bit shocked. "How-how did you-?"  
"I'm telepathic, as Kurt informed you. I can read people's minds and their thoughts." Her eyes widened and she blushed at this, but Professor X said, "You don't need to worry, I respect people's privacy, unless it is a dire emergency of course. Now, do you remember anything at all that Mitch might have said about his job there?"  
Olivia thought hard to remember. "I can't put my finger on it.he used to talk a lot about it. Getting a promotion here, firing someone lower than him there."  
"Did he say anything about a chemical concerning mutants?" he asked seriously now.  
"I.I can't remember.yes! Yes, he did, but I don't remember what.I'm sorry."  
The Professor wheeled over to her and asked, "If you don't mind, may I take a look at your memories and see if I can find it? I promise to only look for that specific memory."  
Olivia looked nervous a moment, then nodded her head and closed her eyes. Professor X put his hands next to her head and concentrated, searching in her mind for the memory.  
In a small, cluttered and carpeted room, two teens sat talking, or at least one was, the other was doing a complex set of equations for homework. The girl was Olivia and the other boy was Mitch. He sat in a chair at the desk talking while Olivia was hanging over her homework on the bed.  
".Yeah so I told the jerk, if you come in late again, you're fired. And, low and behold, he got in late again the next day, babbling on about how his car got a flat, and that it would never happen again and that he needed this job and blah blah blah.I fired him anyway." He laughed maliciously. Olivia turned her head to look at him, sadly. "Mitch, you should've given the poor guy a break. It sounds like he was having a bad day." "Nah, you can't let these wimps get to your soft spot. They walk all over you. That's the problem with you; you're such a softie." He laughed again. Olivia looked at him hurt, but he smirked, and then paused. "You know they're gonna promote me again. Manager of this new project they've got going." the Professor tuned into the memory closer now and listened intently. The Olivia in her memory just kept writing her homework out, not really listening to his bragging. "That's good, Mitch." "Yeah I knew it was only a matter of time.some new assignment designed specially for mutants. I guess it's like some killer poison, or something, they said they only trust a few people to the project. Anyway, I don't know where they've hidden it yet, they won't tell me, not until next week. My guess is somewhere underground. At any rate, it's something really sinister they've cooked up, really good stuff." He smiled evilly and his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, those freaks don't deserve to be with us normal people.whatever it is, I hope it's really as strong as they say it is." Abruptly, the memory was interrupted, and it became fuzzy like a static TV show. What appeared instead was something almost out of a movie: three girls who looked a lot like Gwen, Julia and Olivia were glowing and stood facing an unseen enemy. The dark shadow laughed at them, but they glow of the three became brighter and brighter until a flash of brilliant light exploded and the memory ended quicker than when it started. Professor X let go of his concentration at this point, and Olivia opened her eyes with a gasp. She breathed a little quicker at first, and then settled down; she looked very startled. "I-I can't believe that I didn't pay attention." she said weakly and ashamed. "I should've listened. I can't believe I just tuned something like that out." She seemed completely unaware of the memory interruption. The Professor looked at her amazed a moment that she didn't see the images of her, Gwen and Julia, but kept this bit of information to himself, and wheeled back behind his desk. "It's not really you're fault." The Prof. assured her, "I would've ignored someone who talked that much anyway, if it's any comfort." They giggled at this, and Olivia regained herself. "Now then," he returned to his desk, "we'll need to enroll you in the school here. You only have a few days left, and their finals start on Tuesday. If you want, I can arrange for you to take them later on, maybe during the summer?" She thought a moment, then decided, "No, I want to take them now. All the info from this year's still in my head, and I just really want to get them out of the way right now anyway. Thank you, though, Professor." "You're quite welcome, Olivia. Or should I say Persephone?" he smiled. Olivia returned it. "Either way is fine." "You can go now, but I must ask you to stop by the infirmary and get a physical so as to make sure that you're okay. And be ready for school bright and early tomorrow morning." "Yes, Professor, I will. I always am up early." As she turned to leave, a thought came into Olivia's mind: "That's the problem with you; you're such a softie.Am I really that weak? "Professor, do you have any-" "Training areas or programs?" he finished for her. "Of course we do. Kurt can show you them if you ask him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Good day." "Good day." She returned, then left the office. Kurt was leaning against a wall, munching on a piece of toast when she exited, and he turned and smiled at her. "Hey, how'd it go?" he asked. "Good. I'm going to school with you tomorrow. And taking the finals with you." "You actually want to?" Kurt asked in disbelief. "Well, I want to get them done and over with. That way I can have the whole summer to just chill and adjust.and train. Do you train often?" "Sometimes." his stomach rumbled loudly. Olivia giggled and he said, "Ummm I haven't really eaten breakfast yet. Care to join me, my good lady?" he bowed dramatically. "Why most certainly, my good gentle-uh, mutant!" Olivia laughed with the mocking air of an old time rich lady and she took his hand. They smiled at each other and *bamphed* down to the kitchen. When they got there, Julia, Kitty, Gwen, Toad and Rogue were all sitting at the table eating and talking. They looked up at the sound of Kurt's teleporting and chorused "Good mornings" to the both of them. "G'mornin." Olivia answered, and sat down next to Gwen. "Aren't you going to eat something?" Gwen asked her through a mouthful of eggs. "Nah, I'm not really hungry right now.maybe a little later." Nightcrawler took to helping himself to whatever he could get his hands on in the fridge and sat down next to Olivia with a heavy plate of breakfast. She looked at him in a friendly way of disbelief, and joked, "You eat like Gwen. I don't understand how you two are so thin." Everyone smiled at that and then Kitty said, "Oh, sorry guys I've gotta go. I'm heading out with Jean, Scott, and Logan on a new mission. Hope you guys enjoy your first day here!" She said to the newcomers. They thanked her and Kitty left the kitchen, phasing through the wall. Olivia asked Rogue, "You guys go on 'missions?'" "Yeah, picking up new mutants, checking out some possible anti-mutant weaponry.that sort of thing." "Oh, I see." Olivia became a little cold inside at the reminder of anti- mutant weaponry.I hope what Mitch was saying wasn't true, she said to herself. Her kind was drawn from the topic by Toad, who had taken to showing off his eating abilities.a full plate of toast, eggs, and a few pancakes was gone in the blink of an eye, or rather the flash of a tongue, when Toad shot his tongue out and pulled everything into his mouth, including plates and silverware, at once. Julia, Gwen, and Olivia nearly fell on the floor laughing, Julia most of all, while the others looked on in a highly disgusted manner. Julia wiped tears from her eyes and said, "Anyway, when do you guys plan to go down for your physicals? We're supposed to go sometime today." "Why don't we all just go at the same time? That would make it a lot easier." Gwen offered. "Good for me." They replied. And when everyone finished, Kurt took them on a short tour of the Institute, then to the infirmary. Beast was sitting in a chair, reading a novel, when the groups entered. Olivia jumped at the site of him, while Gwen and Julia just stared amazed, as he began to talk. "Greetings, new recruits. My name is Beast. Shall we begin the physicals?"  
  
The group checked out fine, but as they waved good-bye and headed out the door, Beast gravely put down on his report, "Gwen Friden: lacerations/cut marks to wing connections, old bruised marks. Olivia Bloomwood: marks and bruises to arms, legs, and back." At this point, Gwen announced. "I'm going to go to the weight room and lift for a bit. See you guys at lunch." And she headed off for that part of the Institute. "I think Toad and I are going to go look around for a bit. We'll see you at lunch." And the two walked off arm in arm down the hall. Kurt looked at Olivia and smiled. "Shall we finish the tour? We've really on got one more place to go." "Why not? Let's do it." She smiled. And they walked down the other hallway. When they got to the Danger Room, she looked around it very interested. "Wow." her voice echoed in the dome-shaped room. "It's huge. So what goes on in here?" Kurt began, "Well, the scenery can be changed and there are lasers and robots you can fight against. Logan's getting a bit too good to come in here, I think." Olivia turned to him, confused. "Who's Logan?" "Oh, he's one of the older, older mutants; his name's Wolverine. You should see him later-oh, wait, he went on that mission with Kitty, Jean, and Scott. Anyway, they should be back either tonight or tomorrow. You can meet them then." "Okay.in the meantime, is there any way I can start training? I want to get stronger as soon as possible. I-I'm getting a bit tired of being weak." she finished quietly, and a little embarrassed it seemed. Kurt looked at her. "You're not weak. You just haven't learned how to control and use your powers to the best of your ability yet. It takes time, you'll see." He smiled and so did she. "But since you want to, I'm sure Storm wouldn't mind watching you." "Thanks. I can't wait to start. Can we go find Gwen and Julia now?" "Easier done then said." He laughed in reply, and they *bamphed* away to find Gwen and Julia. Raptor, Soniker, and Toad were sitting at the table in the kitchen when they found them. Julia was still talking to Toad, as she had been doing all morning, and Gwen was eating a bag of Doritos and three empty boxes of cookies were spread out on the table in front of her. "Hey guys." Olivia said, taking a seat next to Gwen. "Gwen, where'd you get all this stuff?" she indicated the chips and cookies. "Oh, I found in the vegetable drawer in the fridge." She answered through a crunching mouth full of chips. "You wouldn't believe how good chips taste cold." "What?! Those were my cookies and chips!" Kurt said, exasperated, as Gwen dumped the rest of the Doritos in her mouth. Oh." she said, sounding slightly guilty, "Sorry, Kurt." He wore a pitiful look and looked like he was going to say something, when Storm walked into the kitchen; she looked a little surprised at first, then: "Oh, new recruits. Welcome. My name is Storm." The new recruits exchanged names and powers, and then Kurt said, "Hey Storm Olivia wants to know if she can start training today. Do you think you could watch her?" "Ooo, yay! That sounds like fun! Can I come?" Julia asked happily. "Me too. I haven't done a bit of sparing in a while." Julia added. Storm looked thoughtful a moment, then replied, "Given what all of your powers are, I think it would be best if you all went outside to train and not in the Danger Room. I'll talk to the Professor and see what he says. But I'm sure you can all start training today. Meet me in the lobby in half an hour. Good day." She left the kitchen to see the Prof. and Gwen left to watch TV for a while; Olivia and Julia went upstairs to sort out their clothes and other stuff from home, and Kurt decided to scavenge the fridge for something else to eat since Gwen had gotten to his stash of chips and cookies. 


	7. warning

Okay, here's the deal: if you guys want me to post some more chapters a bit quicker, I would really appreciate it if you posted a few more reviews. Please do this for me. It helps keep my confidence up and the words flowing, so to speak, so please review when you're done, please review! Thanks! 


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